Seleukid4

186 – 176 Seleukos IV Philopatōr ("The Father-lover"), Seventh Seleukid King.

Born in 236, he served as a general during his father’s war on the Romans (Roman-Syrian War: 193-188), conquering Pergamon, their Western Anatolian ally. When he succeeded to the throne, however, he was unable to overcome the aftermath of his father’s war with Rome and achieved little. He married his sister, Laodikē IV. He was assassinated in 176 at Laodikeia-by-the-Sea, probably by Hēliodōros, one of his Ministers.

• • 1) Antiochos, who was co-regent with his father, and was regarded as King following his father's death. After his uncle, Antiochos IV, took the throne he was made co-regent and died shortly thereafter - probably not from natural causes. Because of his ephemeral rule, he is not counted as a Seleukid King (son of Laodikē IV)

  • 2) Dēmētrios I Sōtēr, Tenth Seleukid King (son of Laodikē IV) (see below)

  • 1) Laodikē V (daughter of Laodikē IV). She married (first) Perseus, the final King of Makedon from 179 until deposed by the Romans in 168; he died in 165 or 162. She married (second) her brother Dēmētrios I Sōtēr, Tenth Seleukid King. She was killed by Alexandros I Balas, Eleventh Seleukid King.

    • a) Alexandros (son of Perseus)

    • a) A daughter of Perseus, who was paraded through the streets of Rome with him as a captive in 168.

176 – 164 Antiochos IV Theos Epiphanēs Nikēphoros ("The Manifest Victory-Bearing God"), Eighth Seleukid King.

Born Mithradatēs, he was a hostage of the Romans to ensure his father's "good behaviour" following the Roman victory in the Roman-Syrian War, from 188 until 178. He apparently grew quite fond of the Romans, and never realised that they did not reciprocate. At the time of his brother’s death in 176, he was in Athens and he took the throne shortly thereafter, with the help of King Eumenēs II of Pergamon and put Heliodōros, his brother’s assassin, to death. He frequently interacted with commoners, was an expert in goldsmithery, played the fife and endeavoured to give judgments carefully and personally in the manner of a Roman, for which the historian Polybius calls him Epimanēs (“the madman,” a pun on his official epithet, 'Epiphanēs').  Antiochos fought a successful war against Armenia in 168. In 169 and 164 he invaded Egypt (The Sixth Syrian War), temporarily pacifying Judaea and enjoying amazing success in Egypt itself. He soon approached the Egyptian Capital, Alexandria. However, at Eleusis, a short distance from Alexandria, he was met by a Roman envoy. The envoy curtly demanded he withdraw; when Antiochos asked for time to think, the envoy drew a small circle around him in the sand and insisted that he make his decision before stepping out of the circle or face Roman wrath. Antiochos gave in. Thus the Romans established their supremacy in the east; never again would a Hellenistic monarch attempt to treat with the Romans as their equal. 

The Biblical Books of the Maccabees have immortalised him as a tyrant who oppressed the Jews of Judaea terribly, encouraging them to conform to Greek cultural norms and criminalising the Jewish religion. It appears that this reflects a policy of introducing the cult of Zeus Olympios, a patron god of the Seleukid dynasty, to the cities of Palestine; an attempt to tie this recently conquered territory more firmly to Seleukid rule. If so, the policy backfired spectacularly, for it caused the Maccabeean Revolt, which began in 166 and would ultimately lead to the establishment of an independent Jewish kingdom. He died shortly after robbing a temple of Aphrodite or Artemis in 164.

He married his sister, the widow of his brother, Laodikē IV.

He married or took as a concubine Antiochis; the revenue of two Judaean cities was allegedly put aside for her, leading them to join the Maccabeean Revolt.  

• • 1) Antiochos V Eupatōr, Ninth Seleukid King (son of Laodikē IV) (see below).

  • 2?) Alexandros I Balas, Eleventh Seleukid King  (perhaps the son of Antiochis, or an imposter) (see below)

  • 1) Nysa (daughter of Laodikē IV). She married Pharnakēs I, King of Pontus .

  • 2?) Laodikē (may have been an imposter). She married Mithridatēs III Euergetēs, King of Pontus and was eventually killed by her own son (see PONTUS)

164 – 162 Antiochos V Eupatōr ("The Well-Fathered"), Ninth Seleukid King.

Born in 173, he was made co-ruler around 170, while still a child, and became sole ruler in 164. As he was still young, he was under the control of his ministers, especially his regent, Lysias, who lost control of Judaea, Babylonia, Sophene and Commagene. He was killed by his cousin Dēmētrios I Sōtēr in 162.